U.S. Army Rangers assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment, take down the last U.S. flag at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan in July 2021. Bagram Air Base was the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Bagram Airfield was first secured by the British Special Boat Service in November 2001 | Photo: U.S. Army/Sgt. Landon Carter, 75th Ranger Regiment
The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Tuesday a review of the withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces from Kabul in Afghanistan in August 2021.
A statement from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said, “Today, I am directing the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and Senior Advisor Sean Parnell to convene a Special Review Panel for the Department into the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
Two paratroopers assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division conduct security while a C-130 Hercules takes off during a non-combatant evacuation operation in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 25, 2021 | Photo: U.S. Central Command/ Master Sgt. Alexander Burnett
U.S. forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 in a widely-criticised and mismanaged evacuation from Kabul, with aircraft operating evacuations being mobbed by Afghan civilians who clung on after take-off and fell to their deaths. The operation evacuated over a 120,000 people with around 200 casualties. Controversy emerged after the operation when it emerged that then President Joe Biden might have gone against the advice of his senior military leadership, which recommended against a complete withdrawal, with 2,500 U.S. troops remaining behind in Afghanistan.
Major General Christopher Donahue, commander of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, boards a C-17 cargo plane at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 30, 2021. Major General Donahue was the final U.S. service member to depart Afghanistan. His departure closed the U.S. mission to evacuate American citizens, Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and vulnerable Afghans. General Christopher Donahue is currently the Commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa | Photo: U.S. Central Command/Master Sgt. Alexander Burnett
A memorandum from Hegseth dated May 20, 2025, said, “Over the last three months, the Department has been engaged in a review of this catastrophic event in our military ‘s history. I have concluded that we need to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people.”
Hegseth’s statement also listed Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, ‘a combat-decorated Marine officer who spoke out about the Afghanistan withdrawal’, and Jerry Dunleavy, ‘an author, journalist, and investigator who helped lead the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s investigation into the Afghanistan withdrawal’, as members of the panel, which would ‘re-examine previous Abbey Gate investigations conducted by U.S. Central Command during the Biden Administration.’
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